The present invention relates to a method and a system for showing discrepancies in speedometers in vehicles.
A number of methods, systems and procedures to calibrate or adjust speedometers in vehicles, for example cars, are known. One way to adjust a speedometer is to place the car on rollers that are connected to a measuring apparatus, whereupon the speedometer can be adjusted according to the measurement. This control is often used if the speedometer is destroyed or there is a suspicion of a large discrepancy.
However, most cars have a discrepancy where the speedometer is adjusted down. This means, for example, that the real speed of the car can be 95 km/h when the speedometer indicates 100 km/h. This is done deliberately by car manufacturers to avoid claims for compensation from drivers that are fined because of speedometers being adjusted too high.
The discrepancy will only be larger when the tires of the car are worn. When the profile in a tire with a diameter of 60 cm is worn by 3 mm, the circumference becomes 18.8 mm smaller. At a speed of 100 km/h, this means a discrepancy of about 1 km/h. A speedometer of a car with a standard discrepancy of 5 km/h and rather worn tires will therefore indicate that the speed of the car is 94 km/h.
Cars with excessive discrepancies in the speedometer can cause dangerous traffic situations. For example, it can be irritating for someone driving behind a car that drives too slowly, something that can lead to dangerous overtaking situations.
Another disadvantage with this is that one can feel that the speed limit on the actual stretch of road is too low in relation to, for example, the width of the road, number of lanes, bends, vegetation by the side of the road, and other factors that influence the driver's feeling for speed. The driver will not risk speeding fines and sticks to the speed limit, at least according to the speedometer, while he/she would, in reality, be a more relaxed driver if the speed had been a few kilometres per hour higher. In reality, the driver could be able to drive a little bit faster without breaking the speed limit. With a speedometer with too a large discrepancy, the driver goes slower than what is felt to be natural, and must therefore look at the speedometer all the time, something that takes his attention from the road and the traffic. This can clearly lead to dangerous situations.
For the last disadvantage, there are systems that can be set at a certain speed. Some systems, such as automatic speed controllers or cruise control systems; keep the car at a given speed, until the driver brakes or accelerates. Other systems emit a signal when a predetermined maximum speed is exceeded, for example, a voice signal, sound signal or light signal. However, such systems contribute to a certain degree only, as all such systems that the present inventor is aware of use the speed measuring device of the car as a basis.
Claim 28 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,353,796 B1 describes a device for calibration of a speedometer or a distance measuring system of a vehicle. The system estimates a driven distance with the use of, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System), GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System) or LORAN (Long Range Navigation), which estimate the distance used to calculate an estimated speed of a vehicle, which in turn can be used to calibrate the speedometer. The problem with this and similar systems is that they are complex and expensive, that it requires at least two, but preferably many, points where the measuring takes place to be able to calculate an estimated speed that is sufficiently accurate to be useful.
It is the intention to solve the above mentioned problems with the present invention.